Screw-cleat for electric wires



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No. 418,369. Patented Dec. 31, 1889.

@IIIIIWIM 6 6' which awire 2 is to be supported.

UNITED STATES GEORGE E. IIUFF, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

SCREW-CLEAT FOR ELECTRIC WIRES.

PATENT OFFICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 418,369, dated December 31, 1889. Application filed May 10, 1889. Serial No.310,289. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. HUFF, of the city and county of Hartford, Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Screw- Cleat for Electric Wires, which is described in the following specification and is illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

My invention belongs to that class of electric-wire supports which are commonly used in the inside wiring of buildings for are lights and which have a grooved base for the reception of the wire and a cap which covers the groove and holds the'wire in position.

It is the object of my invention to combine in a wire-support of this class beauty of appearance and cheapness of construction with facility and convenience of application and. operation. To accomplish this result I prolong the central grooved portion of the base in the form of a split screw, upon which the cap is fitted.

In said drawings, Figure l is a side View of my improved screw-cleat with wire in position and with cap on. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the base of the same with the wire and without the cap. Fig. 4. is a side view of said cap and base separated from each other, the wire being in position.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the numeral 1 denotes a ceiling or other portion of a building in The base 3 and cap 4 constitute my improved screwcleat. Base 3 is a circular (llSk'fOlllleCl of wood or other insulating material and having on one side or face a screw or screwthreaded tongue 5. In the same side of base 3 is sunk a straight groove or channel 6, which extends across base 3 from edge to edge and also splits screw 5 longitudinally into two equal parts, as seen in Fig. 4. The width of groove 6 is as great as the thickness of the wire 2 which is to be secured therein, and the depth of said groove in the body of base 3, excluding screw 5, is slightly less than the thickness of said wire. Base 3 is perforated by holes for two screws 7. (Seen in Fig. 3.) Cap 4 is nearly hemispherical in form, and is provided with a female screw fitting screw 5, as seen in Fig. 2.

Such being the construction of my invention, its mode of operation needs little explanation. Base 3 is fastened to ceiling l by screws 7 in the usual manner, the heads of said screws being countersunk in said base.

'vention,

Wire 2 is then inserted sidewise in groove 6 from the open end of screw 5 by hand and cap 4 is placed upon screw 5 and turned slightly on. WVire 2 is then held loosely in groove 6. After wire 2 has in this manner been loosely secured in position in successive screw-cleats the same is drawn tight and. is firmly secured by turning caps 4 snugly to bases 3 and hard upon said wire.

Such being the construction and operation of my improved screw-cleat, I claim as myin- I. As a new article of manufacture, a screwcleatfor electric wires, consisting of a flat and circular disk of insulating material having a central transverse groove which is sunk in one face thereof to a uniform depth slightly less than the thickness of the wire which is to be held therein, and provided with a screw, which is formed integrally with said disk, projects from the middle of said face at right angles therewith, and is separated into two parts by means of a central channel continuous with said groove, in combination with an internally-threaded screw-cap which is adapted, when turned home upon said screw, to cover the aforesaid face of said disk and to exert pressure immediately upon those portions of a contained wire which lie in the terminal portions of said groove, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a screwcleat for electric wires, consisting of an electrically-non-conductive disk having two parallel faces and holes for screws and screwheads 7, one of said faces being cut diametrically by a straight groove of uniform depth and being provided with a screw which proj ects from said cut face at right angles therewith and is split into two separate parts by means of a channel continuous with said groove, in combination with an internallythreaded screw-cap which is adapted to contain said split screw, to cover said screw-heads 7 and the aforesaid grooved face of said disk, and to engage those sections of wire which occupy the terminal portions of said groove, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I hereunto setmy name in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. I-IUFF.

\Vitnesses:

WILLARD EDDY, J OHN H. WHITE. 

